Thinking MattersEdition 1

Making decisions intelligently, rationally and with a sense of personal investment requires a considerable degree of critical thinking. To choose badly based on disinformation or high emotionality, rather than on the intelligent interpretation of data, leads us down a path from which there is often no safe return. Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. That is why one of the most important attributes for citizenship in that democracy is our ability to use intelligent habits of mind to interpret data, to distill disinformation from sound information, to use the best information to make sound and rational decisions to solve the many complex and varied problems that arise. Thinking Matters: A Guide to Making Wiser and More Thoughtful Decisions offers readers an opportunity to examine what it means to use intelligent habits of mind to make wise, rational and informed choices, and deal more logically with problems that impact their lives.